Anywhere, Anytime: Limitless Possibilities
by superluigi13
Summary: The very fabric of space and time has collapsed, and every location and era that has existed or ever will exist have been merged together to form a new world, teeming with anything from dinosaurs and cowboys to cyborgs and aliens. All of these are free to roam unchecked through forests, canyons, spaceships, or snowy mountains; nothing will ever be the same.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

The battered, aged car was coated in rust and sat uselessly in a small clearing. It lay in full complement to the decrepit, abandoned, chateau that dominated the landscape, large and imposing, yet riddled with small holes, held up with worn, aged wood, and with a thick layer of ivy dominating its veneer.

"Hey look Sully, your first car!"

Nathan Drake's characteristic quip elicited exaggerated sighs from the other three members of his party.

"Watch it, Nate" Victor Sullivan threatened. "I don't think we need a 55-year old man beating your ass right now" he smirked.

"Think we could move this along a bit?" enquired Chloe Frazer, Drake's old flame.

The final member of their group, Charlie Cutter, spoke up in his distinct London accent, similar to Chloe's light Australian one, but contrasting with the thick American of Nate and Sully.

"Well, if we'd split up into pairs as I suggested, then we could have gone to France _and_ Syria at the same time".

"Awh, did you just want a bit of alone time with me, Charlie?" Chloe teased.

"It just seemed to make more sense to split up and take on both at once" Cutter protested.

"Well, there's safety in numbers..." pointed out Drake.

"...And at my age, I'm all for safety" finished Sully with a grin.

"Do we really need safety in numbers with all these guns?" questioned Cutter.

Drake paused and seemed to notice for the first time how heavily armed the quartet actually was. He himself carried a pistol and a shotgun in the holsters that rested across his broad shoulders, while Chloe held a machine gun loosely by her waist.

Sully clutched a sniper rifle in his more than capable hands and the pistol tucked into his waistband was betrayed by a distinctive bulge in his customary button-up shirt. Cutter was last, holding only a pistol, as his preference was hand-to-hand combat due to his strength.

"It's good to be prepared" said Nate.

The group finally reached the chateau, only to realise that there were no possible entrances in sight.

"Okay everyone, let's split up, find a way in, and meet up at the tower" suggested Nate.

"So much for bloody safety in numbers" muttered Cutter as he and Drake walked left along the chateau's perimeter, mirrored by Sully and Chloe on the right.

"Let's just hope we can find it and get out of here before Talbot and Marlowe find us" Charlie added.

A smouldering cigarette butt hit the carpeted floor inches away from where Joel crouched hidden behind a desk. The scavenger who had discarded it stood obliviously beside the desk, facing away and completely ignorant of Joel's presence. The only thing that prevented Joel from apprehending him was the other scavenger across the room.

Joel signalled Ellie, who was hidden on the other side of the room in close proximity to the second man. After a brief exchange of charades, Ellie crept obligingly out of her hiding place as Joel prepared himself to pounce.

Ellie drew her knife as she vaulted a table and sprung at the nearby scavenger. Joel immediately emerged from behind the desk and wrapped an arm around the smoker, whose comrade watched wide-eyed. Before he could call for help, Ellie landed on him knife-first. The fifteen-year-old had as much strength and as much tolerance of gore than any adult, and by the time Joel's choke-hold had incapacitated the smoker, she had stabbed her own victim to death.

Joel absentmindedly brushed himself down as Ellie wiped her blade clean.

"Nice job" he grunted in his Texan accent. "Now let's go get our stuff back. I've had that bag o' guns and supplies for years and I ain't gonna let a bunch o' small-time thugs take away everythin' I have in this world."

"I think we're getting close" announced Drake as he and Cutter entered a large grounds area. It was dotted with numerous propane tanks and several short, crumbling walls as well as featuring a small tower with three floors which was far shorter than the one they were seeking. Had they attempted to enter the tower, they would have noticed the wooden interior stairs had long since been worn away, resulting in a heap of debris at its ground floor. The area was bordered by high walls on three sides. On the fourth side was a raised, tiled platform that ran parallel to a wall of the chateau.

The pair rested briefly on the rim of a large well.

"Wouldn't want to fall down there" commented Cutter, peering into the wide and seemingly bottomless shaft. Nate opened his mouth to reply, but was pre-empted by a minute chittering noise.

A small green creature the size of a chicken approached them slowly, and cautiously. Unbeknownst to the two of them, the animal was of a long-extinct species known as _compsognathus_ , a creature that lived in the late Jurassic period, and whose presence in 21st century France was entirely unjustified.

As if that wasn't baffling enough, a slightly larger creature sprung from the underbrush, snapping the smaller animal up in its mouth. This animal should also have been extinct, but its name was much easier to pronounce: _velociraptor_.

Both men recognised this one from its popular representation in media. Bipedal, feathered, and equipped with sharp, curved claws on their hindlegs- velociraptors were incredibly fast, incredibly ruthless, and incredibly _fatal._

The animal regarded them quizzically, as though surprised to see them there. Despite being significantly smaller than the two men, it didn't seem the least bit frightened of them as it bobbed its head in contemplation. Quite the contrary- the raptor was a terrifying beast, and for good reason.

It jerked its head abruptly and snarled. Its legs bent to their full extent, before launching the animal at Cutter. It flew towards him, sunlight glinting from its claws, saliva filling its mouth, death in its eyes-

BANG!

The sound of a sniper discharge echoed through the area and blood spurted from the raptor's leg, causing it to miss Cutter and plummet down straight into the well.

Looking up in astonishment, the pair spotted Sully up on the roof of the chateau, sniper in hand.

"What're you waiting for?" he yelled. "Get outta there!"

Chloe appeared behind him, clutching her machine gun. "Go, you idiots! Run!"

It was too late; all across the area, velociraptors began pouring in, all of them making a beeline for the two tasty morsels idiotic enough to disturb the large nest of raptors that occupied the grounds. Nate and Cutter looked at each other and the final shred of calm dissipated.

They ran.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

The suffocated scavenger's body hit the floor like a sack of potatoes. He had been the final one blocking Joel and Ellie's path to the top floor of the office building where their backpacks were being held, and the pair breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that their weapons and supplies hadn't yet been extracted from them.

Joel unwillingly allowed a contented grunt as he slipped the worn bag onto his back.

"Feels good to have some weight back on your shoulders, huh?" said Ellie as she reclaimed her own pack.

Both quickly searched through them to ensure nothing had been taken. Joel immediately found the picture of he and Sarah. The faded photo contained more emotions than could possibly be conveyed through words. Joel stared at the image for a long time. He glanced up at Ellie and smiled. He may have lost a daughter in 2013 but right now, 23 years later, he still had one.

Sullivan had seen and done many things throughout his years. Yet nothing quite compared to covering his friends with a sniper rifle while they fled aimlessly through the grounds of a chateau, pursued by droves of vicious dinosaurs. He and Chloe crouched on the chateau roof, firing shots at any creature that tried to attack Drake or Cutter. But for every velociraptor that slumped to the ground with blood oozing from a bullet wound, another emerged from the bushes to join the fray.

"Nate! Get to the goddamn tower!"

"Charlie, come on!" cried Drake, making a run for the short structure that was situated nearby. The pair made it to the tower, despite narrowly avoiding death several times thanks to the masterful efforts of Victor Sullivan.

However, after dashing through the tower entrance, Drake and Cutter found themselves in a predicament: the wood that had once made up the tower's various platforms and staircases had worn away and accumulated into detritus at the base of the building. Unfortunately for the duo, the tower extended a level further down than the floor they had entered, causing them to adopt a bizarre human centipede maneuver to avoid falling to their deaths, with Nate hanging from the doorway and Cutter dangling helplessly at his feet.

The situation was not improved by the raptor that entered the tower a floor down, which promptly began leaping up in efforts to reach Cutter. A second raptor managed to make matters even worse by approaching the doorway, a lust for blood evident on its features.

"Shit! Charlie! Charlie, shoot it!" yelled Drake.

"I lost my gun somewhere outside!" shouted Cutter, barely managing to dodge the attacks of the other raptor.

Nathan gritted his teeth before relinquishing the grip of his right hand, his muscles screaming as the left arm alone struggled to lift them both.

"Stop moving!" he cried, fumbling for his holster.

"It's gonna get me, Nate! It's gonna get me!" was Cutter's only response as his attacker began scaling the debris towards him.

Drake drew his pistol, shooting the raptor in the head mid-leap, before calling "catch!" and dropping the pistol down to Cutter.

Which he naturally missed.

And then naturally caught with his feet.

The raptor reached the highest position and prepared to leap as Cutter struggled to retrieve the gun. The dinosaur jumped... only to be clocked in the head with the pistol. It fell to the ground unconscious.

"We need to get to the chateau wall and find a way up" said Drake.

"Let's go" responded Cutter, dropping down neatly to the tower floor and allowing Nate to scramble up. On exiting the tower, Nathan promptly tripped over a loose floor tile, sprawling helplessly on the ground as a raptor charged. A sniper rifle fired just as the animal leapt.

The bullet missed.

Ellie rifled through her backpack; everything seemed to be in place. She briefly examined Sam's robot, replacing it before she got emotional. Whenever she thought she'd recovered from Sam's death it hit her again like a punch in the gut.

"You got all your guns an' ammo?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, yeah... it's all here. Close enough, anyways."

Ellie turned but saw Joel looking away, displaying an expression she had never seen on him before. He was dumbstruck, at a complete loss for words, transfixed even.

"What the hell is that?" he mumbled as they regarded the surreal sight before them. Ellie stepped towards it, an arm outstretched, and with eyes filled with curiosity and intrigue.

"Holy shit."

Drake snatched up the loose tile behind him and swung it, clubbing the incoming raptor in the face. As he got to his feet, another leapt at him. Nate parried its claws with his AK-47 before kicking the creature hard, sending it flailing along the floor.

Meanwhile, Cutter had reached the chateau wall, retrieving his gun in the process, but now found himself trapped, with dinosaurs converging on all sides and one, solitary bullet left in the chamber.

"I need a weapon!" he yelled.

Hefting a nearby propane tank, he managed to eliminate most of the approaching raptors with a well-placed throw and a precise shot with his final bullet. One lone raptor survived the explosion and launched a killing leap.

Cutter caught the sniper rifle that Sully dropped down for him and lifted it up just in time to impale the airborne creature on the barrel. With a dead raptor swinging from his gun, Cutter shot all of the nearby predators before discarding the heavy firearm and beginning to scale a crumbling section of the chateau wall.

Drake sprinted for the building, slotting his machine gun into its holster before launching himself forwards, latching onto the wall a metre up and scampering upwards like a monkey. With his characteristic blend of both aptitude and fallibility, he caught up to Cutter in no time and together they gained entry to the chateau via a damaged window. Moments later, Sully and Chloe had descended the wall and clambered through the window to join them.

"What the hell were those?" panted Drake.

"Velociraptors" said Cutter darkly. "What? Don't look at me" he added as the group stared. "Jurassic Park? Classic Spielberg film? Groundbreaking innovation of special effects? Truly, I'm wasted with you lot."

"So what's the plan now, boys?" asked Chloe, her eyes sparkling with excitement in the face of danger.

"We get out of this bloody place!" exclaimed Cutter.

Chloe ignored him.

"You're awfully quiet, Nate. Any ideas?"

"Well, I don't know about you guys" interjected Sullivan. "But I thought I was getting too old for this shit even _before_ the killer lizards showed up. I know this whole thing with finding the Atlantis of the Sands is important to you, kid. But I don't have a clue what the hell's going on around here. If we keep going at this, we're just gonna get ourselves killed. We need to get as far away from this place as possible."

Drake was still slightly shell-shocked but he nodded his agreement.

"But there's no easy way out of here" said Cutter. "And you realise there's bound to be some nasties _inside_ this place too?"

"We can get out through the front of the chateau" suggested Nate. "We didn't come across anything when we were in the woods so it's likely the infestation is only in the chateau and its grounds."

"And where are we right now?" enquired Cutter.

"The... _back_... of the chateau" responded Nate wearily.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" said Chloe cheerily, rubbing her hands together briskly. "Let's get going!"

The quartet set off together down the corridor to begin their harrowing and dangerous journey through the crumbling, dinosaur-infested chateau. Unbeknownst to them, there were two others currently occupying the building.

As these two people walked cautiously through a dark room, their flashlights cast upon the wall the shadows of a large man and a teenage girl.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

Nathan Drake skirted around a large crack in the floor, closely followed by his companions Victor Sullivan, Chloe Frazer, and Charlie Cutter.

"You know something?" said Drake. "I don't think this floor's secure."

"You don't say" replied Sully. "Why else do you think it's creaking more than my bones on a Sunday morning?"

"Yeah, but I mean 'insecure' as in 'give way completely and drop us all to our deaths' insecure, not loose floorboards."

"Nate, you might want to come and look at this" called Chloe.

While Nathan and Sully had been talking, Chloe had taken the initiative, and put her eye to the crack they had just avoided. Drake did the same and stood up hastily.

"What's wrong?" enquired Sullivan.

"Watch where you tread" suggested Nate.

Sully joined Drake and Chloe by the crack in the floor, putting his own eye to it.

"Shit!" he exclaimed. "That's gotta be fifteen, twenty metres at least! We'd never survive a drop like that!"

And with that, the floor collapsed.

Joel awoke with a start, a loud crash sounding from nearby.

"Shit."

"What was that?" mumbled Ellie, still half-asleep.

"I don't know" said Joel, instantly alert. "But it ain't gonna be good."

The pair scooped up their backpacks and shook their hair and clothes vigorously to expel the dirt and grime that had accrued after sleeping on the rotting, wooden floor of the chateau. Still wearing their blood-stained, dirt-encrusted clothes, they exited the room they'd slept in and continued cautiously through the chateau that they had no way of knowing they were in, twenty-five years earlier than the time period they'd been in previously. Before they'd approached the mysterious, glimmering portal.

Cutter stood stock-still for a few seconds, blinking slowly in shock, before rushing forwards and peering down through the gaping hole in the floor.

The others had fallen down into a large room resembling a grand hall with a patterned, decorated floor that was twenty metres below Cutter's level. Starting in one corner of the room was the beginning of a wooden staircase that ringed the room from top to bottom, with a small balcony each time the stairs reached a new level, as well as doors mostly inaccessible from collapsed foundations that would have been used to enter each floor. Over time, large amounts of the staircase had crumbled down to form a rotting pile of debris. Atop the pile was the flat circle of wood that had collapsed beneath the trio, and the three of them lay battered on top of it, dazed but alive, after the platform had ricocheted from several balconies, slowing their descent by enough to avoid death.

"You alright down there?" called down Cutter with a jovial wave.

"Never better" replied Chloe casually, as if this were a regular occurence.

Drake and Sully were much less amiable as they clambered down the debris, grumbling and groaning as they did so.

"What do we do now?" asked Charlie.

"Well" began Drake as he brushed himself off. "The stairs are pretty destroyed, but I think we can get back up there if we're careful."

"Nate, you gotta be kidding me" complained Sully. "Can you see the state of that staircase? One wrong step and it's over."

"Are you having me on?" asked Cutter. "This is a walk in the park for you lot!"

"Come on Sully" said Drake as he and Chloe started to make their way up the fragile wooden staircase. Sully shook his head.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm gonna regret this?"

Cutter proceeded along the corridor, taking care to bypass any other cracks in order to avoid plummeting down to meet his friends. Or his maker. The further he advanced down the increasingly dark hallway, the more isolated he felt. The scuffling and the grunts of his friends faded away to be replaced with merely the creaking of the floorboards beneath his feet, and the quickening pace of his breath.

Panic steadily began to engulf him and consume his senses, brought on by either his extreme claustrophobia or sheer terror. He stopped briefly, putting his back to the wall and taking deep breaths to calm himself.

"Come on come on come on come on you're gonna be fine you're gonna be fine fine fine."

Too late he realised that he had no weapons but his fists. All it would take would be a raptor coming across him and he'd be finished.

"I'm not gonna be fine. Shit shit shit shit shit, oh Christ Almighty, I'm dead."

Cutter eventually managed to get his breathing under control.

And then he saw the raptor shadow.

"So who's going first?" asked Chloe, rubbing her hands together briskly.

The trio were almost at the top now, high enough for a fall to be fatal, and they were now faced with a four-metre jump across a gaping hole in one of the balconies.

"Guys, look" pointed Sully. "Even if we make it across here, the highest point we can get to is up there. There's no way to get to the door we need."

Nate shrugged. "The walls are pretty destroyed. We can just climb the rest of the way up after that."

"Sorry kid, but not all of us are Spider-Man."

"Look, we'll figure it out, okay? Let's just cross this gap. Ladies first?"

"Who says chivalry is dead?" grinned Chloe, lining herself up.

She sprinted the few metres available to her and propelled herself forwards. The edge of the platform smashed painfully into her body but she clung to the edge and hauled herself up.

"Child's play. What are you two waiting for?" she scoffed.

"On three?" said Drake.

"Nobody I'd rather fall to my death with, kid."

On the count of three, the two men leapt for the balcony. Sullivan landed in the same position as Chloe had, but Nate pushed off awkwardly and only just managed to clutch the edge with his fingertips. Chloe hauled Sully to safety as Nate clambered up.

"That was close, huh?"

CRACK.

The plank of wood underneath Drake's foot snapped and plunged his ankle through the hole; this coincided with the foundations of the entire staircase splintering beneath them.

"Run!" yelled Chloe, tearing up the next flight of stairs as the balcony began to tilt and collapse. Sullivan shot after her at the speed of a man twenty years younger and Nathan followed suit after wrenching his foot free.

The balcony tore away from the wall and its free-hanging weight started dragging the stairs down with it. Drake found the stairway disappearing beneath him. He jumped for the next balcony, pulling himself up and sprinting for the next set of stairs. After dozens of close shaves, the group arrived at the highest part of the staircase that was still intact.

"Looks like we'll have to climb from here" noted Chloe.

The trio found handholds, (Sully with some reluctance), and began scaling the wall, a monumental heap of destruction left in their wake.

"Just a normal Tuesday morning, huh?" said Sully.

Cutter froze as the shadow grew larger and larger against the wall.

A raptor was just around the corner.

Its sharp claws were cast prominently onto the wall and Cutter had to try and suppress a wave of terror.

Looking around frantically, he spotted a door and ducked inside of it as quietly as he could. He shut the door swiftly behind him and put his ear to it to listen for any movements. Padding footsteps could be heard right outside the door before they began to recede gradually into the distance. Cutter breathed out heavily in relief.

And sucked it straight back in when he noticed the barrel of a rifle pointed at his head.

Its wielder was a fierce-looking teenage girl.

"Get on the _fucking_ ground" she demanded. " _Now_."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4.

Cutter raised his hands and sank slowly to his knees. The girl kept her hunting rifle trained on him closely for a few moments before stepping backwards to confer with the huge, grizzled man behind her.

"Do we kill him?"

"Maybe" the man rumbled. "But first, we find out what's goin' on."

He turned to Cutter.

"Where are we?"

"What, you don't know where this is?"

"Answer the goddamn question."

"Well... France."

"France..." muttered Joel. "Impossible. What was that... _thing_ we went through? Where are we _really_?"

"Um... I have to admit, I have no idea who you two are and what you're doing here, and I haven't got a clue what this thing is you're talking about, okay?"

Cutter was fighting hard to keep the fear from showing on his face.

"I'm from England, alright? I've only just come into France and before yesterday, I'd _never_ set foot in this place. I have no idea about _anything_ that's happened to you and I've had _no involvement in it_. I swear. Just... just put the gun down, yeah?"

"I'm not buyin' it" replied Joel. "The gun's just a precaution, but just in case infected are nearby, I'll slit your throat right now if you don't tell me what I want to know."

"Infected? What are you talking about?"

" ' _Infected?'?_ What do you mean, _'Infected?'?_ Clickers, runners, you gotta have a name for 'em."

" _I don't know what you're talking about_."

"Empty out your pockets" instructed Joel. "We're takin' all your supplies."

"But it's only a short drive to the nearest village" Cutter protested.

Joel remained silent.

"Fine" relented Cutter.

He stripped all of his pockets bare and tossed his meagre possessions to Joel, who scanned every item carefully with a critical eye. Sustenance was frugal; he carried only a flask of water and an energy bar. Joel's eyes widened as he saw the final object. He flipped open Cutter's cheap mobile phone and immediately dropped it in shock when the display lit up.

"Where did you get this?" he said slowly, his voice filled with what was unmistakably disbelief and incredulity.

"Well.. it's mine. I bought it."

Joel stayed silent for over a minute. Cutter struggled to maintain his facade. Beneath the almost casual veneer, he was terrified that he was about to die. He glanced over at Ellie, but she simply motioned her gun towards Joel until he turned away.

Joel finally spoke.

"What year is this?"

"2011..."

Joel began to take shaky breaths, unable to control himself any longer. Charlie took comfort in the fact that he was putting up a better facade than his interrogator. Maybe that was a good sign.

"That- that's impossible. That was 25 years ago... It's 2036. I know it is. 23 years since the outbreak. 23 years since... No. You're lying."

Joel turned to Ellie, hiding his shock and anxiety from the stranger.

"Ellie, we have all of his stuff. Shoot him in the head."

"But what if infected show up?" she protested.

Cutter was unsure if this was compassion or practicality on her part. Possibly both.

"Or the rest of his group?" she continued.

"Then they'll come runnin' and we'll know exactly who we're sharin' this building with" responded Joel firmly.

Ellie aimed at Cutter's head with her hunting rifle.

"You sure about this?"

Joel nodded.

"Shoot him."

It was now or never. Time to go up against two heavily armed opponents.

Cutter had inched closer to the pair as they were talking and as soon as Ellie received the order, he grabbed the barrel and jerked it away from his head.

BANG!

The rifle discharged right next to his head, sending his ears ringing. Ellie wrenched the gun from Charlie's hand and kicked him back down to the floor. Any hesitation displayed previously was gone completely now.

Before she could steady her aim, Cutter kicked her in the stomach, and when she doubled over, he grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her off of him. He ran towards a sofa for cover. Joel, who had helped Ellie up, drew a pistol and fired shots after him. Cutter dived behind the sofa and crouched there, trying to stay calm.

As soon as he heard light footsteps just around the corner of the sofa, he reached blindly round it. His hand found the barrel of the rifle and he pulled as hard as he could. Ellie crashed to the floor and Cutter claimed the hunting rifle for his own. Wheeling around, he aimed at Joel, who was standing defenceless in the middle of the room.

Cutter hesitated briefly, unsure of whether to shoot him or not. He quickly decided on yes; there was no reasoning with these people and they were dangerous. The girl was a far easier victim, but with her lying on the floor, he couldn't bring himself to do it, and instead levelled the gun directly at Joel's chest.

"Shit."

Joel threw himself to the ground, but the bullet grazed his arm on the way, leaving him twisted on the floor in pain. Cutter turned.

Ellie was brandishing a knife at him.

Snarling, she propelled herself forwards and brought the blade down in a stabbing motion. Dropping the gun, Cutter caught both her arms and held her in place. Ellie kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him stumbling backwards into the wall. She lunged again, and Charlie dodged to the side, crying out in pain as the blade caught the side of his right arm. He snatched her arm as she withdrew the knife, and lifting her by the waistband, threw her bodily across the room.

As she struggled to get up after all the injuries, Cutter aimed the hunting rifle. He had to do this.

He had to shoot her.

BANG!

A pistol shot missed Cutter's head by centimetres, instead hitting the rifle barrel with a loud ping. Turning, Cutter saw Joel aiming his pistol from the ground, gritting his teeth from the pain of his bullet wound. With no time to aim, Cutter dived to the ground as pistol bullets flew everywhere around him. Cutter managed to reach Joel, but to his alarm, the man had actually managed to climb to his feet.

"Screw it" thought Cutter.

With matching arm wounds, the two launched at each other. Ducking Joel's right hook, Cutter smashed a fist into Joel's jaw. As the huge man staggered backwards, Cutter continued a series of punches, pushing Joel up against the wall. The older man wasn't as weak as he looked though, and in one solid punch, sent Cutter crashing onto his back. Either he looked a lot older than he was, or he was very tough for his age.

Joel raised a foot and Charlie rolled aside as it stamped into the ground next to his head. He shoved Joel's leg hard, bringing him crashing to the floor.

Cutter stood up unsteadily, preparing to finish Joel off.

Then Ellie smashed into Cutter so hard that her own momentum carried her over his shoulder, sending them both to the floor.

The three of them lay there, all either unconscious or close to it. The fight had been a large toll on them.

The door creaked open and Chloe walked in.

"He's in here!" she called over her shoulder, before walking over to Cutter and leaning over him. "Found some new friends? And to think, we slog our guts out getting up here, and you decide to have a sleepover?"

She tutted.

"What a lazy bastard."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5.

Ellie's eyes flickered open.

She laid nestled in a thin blue blanket, with Joel next to her on a battered mattress, and Cutter on the sofa. Both men were unconscious, sporting bloodstained bandages on their right arms as trophies of the prior brawl. Fortunately, she herself only carried a dull ache and light bruising on her stomach where she had been kicked twice.

Ellie's first instincts were to either locate her knife and stab the stranger to death, or to wake Joel. What stopped her performing either of these actions was a realisation of the careful way in which the three of them had been placed here. Such hospitality indicated that they had friends rather than enemies.

Hushed voices reached her ears. Determining that the sounds came from an adjoining room, Ellie approached the connecting door and pushed it open apprehensively.

"Well, well" said an unfamiliar voice. "One of them's awake. Take a seat and we'll ask you some questions."

Victor Sullivan sat back in his chair, disbelief etched across his face.

"Well she seems pretty sincere, Nate, but come on? Zombies? Magic portals? I'm not buying it."

"I'm not sure, guys" said Chloe. "However preposterous it is, there's a lot supporting the story, and nothing disproving it."

Nathan Drake nodded his head thoughtfully. "That's true. And it's not like we haven't seen our fair share of the supernatural. Mutated, zombified Spaniards, anyone?"

"Don't forget, considering we're being besieged by bloody _dinosaurs_ , a little time travel story shouldn't sound quite so bizarre" added Chloe.

"Okay" conceded Sullivan. "Fine, but proceeding under the assumption that all that really is true, what happens now?"

Ellie interrupted the adults from her spot at the opposite end of the table they were seated at.

"We tried going back to where we first appeared but there was no sign of it. The... _portal..._ is gone. We're... stuck here."

"But is that such a bad thing?" asked Drake. "If what you've said is true, you've spent your entire life growing up in an apocalypse... We don't have any of that here."

"You're forgetting something" said Chloe. "For them, the epidemic started in 2013. For all we know, that's set to happen here in two years' time."

"Shit, you're right" said Sully, stunned.

"Slow down a minute" protested Nathan. "With all this crazy shit going on, dinosaurs and portals or whatever, how do we know anything's going to happen logically from now on? Clearly something big has happened. Really big. We need to be able to assess the situation. The first step is to get out of this chateau, to somewhere where we can figure all this out. We can't be the only ones; while we're running around out here, there's probably scientists running tests, armies fighting threats, all of it. We just need to focus on ourselves and _get out of here_."

"Well said, mate."

The four turned to see Cutter standing in the doorway.

"The old man's stirring now" he pointed back into the other room. "I think they should come with us."

"Sounds good to me" said Chloe, standing up and stretching. "The more the merrier."

Charlie Cutter winced as his arm twinged with pain. The wound had been well-treated but it would be a while before he was fully recovered.

While Ellie had adjusted to the strangers quickly, there had still been tension between them and Joel. This had cleared somewhat as they got to know each other, but Joel had made it very clear that he did not yet trust them, and was only accompanying them because a group of six was much stronger than a pair.

As the rest of the group filed on ahead, Ellie dropped back to walk next to Cutter.

"Sorry about your arm" she said sheepishly.

"Yeah, well. I'm sure I gave you plenty of bruises to compensate."

"Any of us could have died... I'm sorry about Joel, but he's a survivor. He's been fucked over too many times to trust strangers. Our world is a different world. Trusting too easily is how people get killed."

"Forget it. I'm willing to forgive since I'm still alive, but let me tell you, if I'd been killed then I'd definitely be holding a grudge right now."

Ellie smiled.

"You know what? I like you guys."

"I gotta say, it's refreshing to see a fellow oldie who can hold their own" said Victor Sullivan. "How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?

Judging by his expression, Joel clearly did mind.

"50!" called Ellie from the back of the group.

Joel scowled back at her, an insincere gesture that nonetheless succeeded in conveying his disapproval.

"Lucky you" smirked Sullivan. "I got 5 years on you, pal."

"But still strong as an ox, right, Sully?" called Drake, grinning.

"Damn right, kid". Sullivan turned back to Joel. "But wait until your every bone starts creaking every move you make! Snap, crac-"

CRACK.

The entire group froze.

Something was outside.

Just audible on the ground outside beneath their second-storey window were heavy footsteps. Whatever it was, it was much, much bigger than a raptor.

Suddenly, it emitted a loud, deafening squawking sound and charged rapidly out of earshot. It was gone within seconds.

Then a faint sound reached them.

The same squawking sound, multiplied, many different ones at different pitches, reverberating around the area, surrounding the chateau.

Getting louder.

Getting closer.

"Run?" said Chloe.

"Run" replied Drake.

The six of them sprinted off up the corridor, varying degrees of terror filling them. Could they get in? Did the things know where they were? Were they actually running from nothing?

They reached a boarded up door, but Joel didn't stop, instead slamming into it and breaking through, showering the entrance with thick dust. The rest followed more cautiously.

They were in a large room, standing on the balcony that encircled it, and looking down into a huge area on the ground floor. The balcony was damaged in several places but seemed relatively stable, whereas the room itself was filled with detritus;it was covered with loose wood, and had ivy infiltrating the walls.

Joel had sighted the door on the opposite side of the room, and pulled Ellie with him as he made his way along the balcony. The absence of their companions, however, made him pause. They were still at the door, and with their eyes all fixed on the exact same spot, it wasn't difficult to figure out what was stopping them.

Looking back at him from the floor was a tyrannosaurus rex.

Everybody stood transfixed as it rose to its feet a mere ten metres from Joel and Ellie and emitted an ear-splitting roar.

"Back through the door!" yelled Joel, as the dinosaur ran towards him.

Joel was a man of action, and had almost reached the door in five seconds flat when a scream reached his ears. He turned.

The rex held a backpack in its mouth.

Ellie was currently wearing it.

As Ellie was carried away, Joel ran back and straddled the balcony. Hanging on for dear life from the inside, he reached out a huge hand to grasp Ellie's arm before she could be carried away. Tearing up at the thought of abandoning all of her precious mementos, Ellie somehow managed to shrug the bag off and Joel caught her by the arm. As the dinosaur relinquished the backpack and moved in for another swipe, their companions fired shots, temporarily preventing the attack.

Instead, it charged at the quartet, forcing them to retreat back through the door. Joel yelled with pain as his wounded arm propelled Ellie up on to the balcony.

"Run, Ellie! Back to the others!" he said as the tyrannosaur approached them.

It swung its head like a club, narrowly missing Ellie as it ploughed into the balcony, sending wood flying. The balcony shook violently, and supports fractured all around the structure. Joel found himself hanging one-handed as his section of balcony hung vertically, connected to the rest by almost nothing.

"Run, Ellie, now!" yelled Joel as the rex closed in, mouth wide open to snatch him from his helpless position.

She stayed silent, tears streaming down her face.

"I'll be fine" he said.

He let go of the railing and dropped out of sight.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6.

Joel lurched awake after momentary unconsciousness as a result of the fall. The tyrannosaurus rex loomed over him as he clambered unsteadily to his feet. Ellie's backpack was lying on the floor in front of him. He scooped it up and attached it to his own bag. He'd return it to her when he caught up with everyone.

If he caught up with everyone.

As the dinosaur approached, Joel stood his ground and selected an assault rifle.

"May the best predator win" he muttered drily.

The rex lunged for him, mouth wide open. Joel stood firm and unleashed a barrage of gunshots down its throat, hurting it enough for him to dive out of the way of its enormous bite. Joel took off running, and the tyrannosaurus followed suit after recovering from its wounds. Joel sprayed bullets behind him as he ran, but he was weighed down by at least a quarter of his own body weight, and was still out in the open when the dinosaur caught up.

Scanning the room for cover, he spotted a small cluster of stone chunks adding to the general debris. A sharp 90-degree turn bought him a few extra seconds, and he launched himself at the nearest block, crashing painfully against it and rolling across to drop onto the ground behind it. However, before Joel could catch his breath, he suddenly found himself hoisted into the air, his rucksack clamped between the rex's teeth.

Deducing it was the creature's intention to drop him from a height, Joel shrugged his shoulders free from the straps and fell to the ground. He hit the floor hard, stumbling forwards and toppling over. He scrambled to his feet and ran, much faster without any supplies burdening him.

Real dread filled him for the first time as he heard the loud, repetitive pounding of the footsteps behind him, rapidly getting closer. With a stroke of luck, Joel spotted a missing floorboard which revealed there was a thin layer of hollow space beneath him. He placed a hand on either side of the hole and simultaneously wrenched out the two adjacent floorboards, tossing them away and diving through the gap. The tyrannosaurus plunged its head through after him, missing narrowly as Joel rolled aside.

Bellowing in frustration, the dinosaur thrashed violently, tearing up parts of the floor and showering its prey in wood fragments. Joel travelled as fast as he could in the tiny space at a crawl, with the rex giving chase and demolishing the floor along the way. Joel was afraid but his methodical survivalist brain kept his body functioning to its optimum level as he manoeuvred himself to roughly beneath where the rucksacks had been.

With a roar, the tyrannosaurus stamped the ground, creating a large dent directly above Joel. He hurriedly rolled to the side as the dinosaur stamped again, its foot puncturing the floorboards and crashing onto the solid ground beneath. As it withdrew its foot, it ripped a large amount of the floor up with it, creating a sizable hole.

Joel propelled himself out of the hole, and found himself right next to his weapons. He snatched hold of the bag and opened it up sharply. After retrieving what he wanted, he slung the pack across his shoulders, and backed up fast, preparing his chosen weapon as the predator readied itself for a kill. As the dinosaur charged, Joel threw his molotov cocktail at its feet and it exploded in a blaze of flames.

His steady, yet consistent attacks seemed to have finally worn the tyrannosaurus down as it staggered sideways, now flaming brightly. But then it did something he didn't expect.

The dying tyrannosaur charged him.

Joel stumbled backwards and the enormous mouth hit him like a truck. He flew halfway across the room and hit the floor hard, momentum carrying him five metres further.

He lay battered on the floorboards as the rex approached slowly, knowing his prey was finally beaten. It planted a foot onto Joel's body to pin him in place and dipped its head, mouth wide open to devour him.

Joel pulled out a nail bomb and hurled it into the rex's mouth.

It exploded with a muffled boom, shredding the tyrannosaur's throat as an assortment of blades, glass shards and other sharp objects shot out of the contraption. This was all the dinosaur needed to finally bring it into its death throes, where after a prolonged fit of agony, it finally succumbed and its limp body collapsed, sending shockwaves across the floor as it impacted.

"Thank you, Bill" mumbled Joel as everything went black.

He awoke a few minutes later, his entire body strained and aching. Despite this, his intense need to find and protect Ellie drove him to his feet. He noticed a small door in the far corner he hadn't noticed earlier. Joel hefted the two bags firmly onto his shoulders and headed for the door, shooting the tyrannosaur's corpse a contemptuous glare.

He had no idea how long he'd been walking when he reached what seemed like the hundredth desolated room of worn, beaten furniture. He had spent seemingly an age manouevring around endless piles of debris and inaccessible passageways and yet seemed no closer to either the others, or the exit than when he'd begun.

And then he heard a vicious snarl from the next room.

Joel froze for almost a full minute. After ascertaining he was in no immediate danger he crept silently up to the only door nearby and waited, employing his phenomenal sense of hearing.

Multiple velociraptors were in the next room.

His heightened sense of spatial awareness granted him the knowledge that there was nothing directly on the other side of the door, and so, he pushed it lightly open.

The room was dark, and the only light available was spilling in from the open door that led outside.

 _Outside_.

He had no choice other than to get through this room. But he would have to be extremely careful.

Joel examined his surroundings; it appeared to be a kitchen, with numerous cupboards and work surfaces inhabiting it, as well as at least half a dozen raptors wandering between them. Fortunately, he was no stranger to stealth.

He entered the room at a crouch, taking cover behind the nearest table. There was a raptor stalking past on the other side, and as it moved round the head of the table, Joel moved round the opposite head, keeping the table between them.

He was fully in raptor territory now.

Joel manouevred into the centre of the room, where the majority of the raptors were. He had to be fast or one of them would be bound to come across him. As he began to skirt past a table, one of the raptors suddenly approached it from the other side, forcing him to quickly rush away.

Which resulted in an agonisingly loud footstep.

Most of the raptors didn't think much of this sound with a large amount of their brethren roaming the chateau but the nearest one immediately looked up, and rounded the corner to find... nothing.

Snarling, the animal prowled slowly down the space between two work surfaces, flitting its head left and right as it searched for potential prey.

Squatting in the darkness of a tiny cupboard, Joel held his breath as the footsteps stopped. The cupboard door was slightly ajar and the raptor pressed its nose up to the gap, sniffing interestedly.

Then it nudged the door wide open.

Joel was ready, and before the raptor even made a sound, he lashed out, slashing Ellie's knife across its throat. As blood spattered and it gurgled sickeningly, Joel picked the raptor up and propelled it over two tables and right out of the entrance he'd come in by.

The loud thump and the pained squealing that followed caused every raptor to perk up its ears in unison.

As Joel folded himself back into the cupboard, the entire flock of dinosaurs rushed for the door, several passing right by him. As soon as the final raptor joined its fellows in the doorway observing their dying companion, Joel raced for the outside. With the raptors distracted, he closed the door and locked it, ensuring his safety.

The fresh air was spectacular to breathe. Joel allowed himself a moment of relative peace after everything he'd just lived through, adopting a slow, relaxed pace as he rounded the corner of the chateau.

But apparently the world had other plans.

Three armed men blocked his passage, a confident-looking grey-haired man, a tough-looking South-American with a scowl, and a skinny Indonesian with a twisted smirk.

The grey-haired man, who was clearly the leader, stepped forwards and spoke softly as his comrades aimed guns at Joel.

"I'm Gabriel Roman" he said with an English accent. "I would say that the real question is 'who are _you?'_... but that won't be important any longer once we've taken what we have and killed you."

He turned to the South-American man.

"Navarro... retrieve this man's possessions. But first... shoot him in the head."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7.

Joel stood motionless as the scowling South American man advanced on him, brandishing a large machine gun. Atoq Navarro's face morphed from a scowl into a sadistic grin as he took aim at Joel's head from a short distance.

"Hold up a second" said Joel as calmly as he could manage.

Navarro hesitated, glancing over his shoulder at his employer, Gabriel Roman, who raised a hand firmly.

"You have ten seconds to speak before Navarro proceeds with the execution" he stated matter-of-factly.

"You ain't gotta kill me" insisted Joel. "Just let me hand over my things and I'll go. I got no business with you. You seen all those animals runnin' around this place? Firing a gunshot ain't gonna be good for any of you."

"Should I have Navarro simply slit your throat instead if you care so much for our wellbeing?" asked Roman with a faint smile.

After receiving no response, Roman gestured for Navarro to continue.

"There's others" blurted out Joel. "They got guns, weapons, and they outnumber you. But I can lead you to them. Just as long as you let me and the girl go, you can do what you want with the others."

"And if this is a trap?"

Joel held up Ellie's backpack.

"This is all the girl's stuff." He extracted the toy robot that Ellie kept in memory of Sam, and held it aloft as further evidence.

Roman contemplated silently.

Eddy Raja spoke up for the first time. "Come on, go for it, Roman!" he exclaimed in heavily accented English. "They would never see it coming!"

Navarro fidgeted restlessly as Roman finally spoke up.

"Would this mysterious group happen to contain an old man and his wisecracking protege, by any chance?"

"Yes... they call them 'Nate' and 'Sully'."

Roman smiled. "It's about time Victor Sullivan and I had a talk."

Joel walked briskly through the chateau's grounds, acting as if he knew exactly where he was going. Navarro walked two paces behind, scrutinising Joel's every movement and stumbling slightly under the weight of the two backpacks slung over his shoulders. Eddy and Roman followed leisurely behind them.

Joel turned a corner and groaned. He'd led them straight to the chateau's entrance. The ruse was exposed; there was no other option.

He spun around and ducked low, avoiding Navarro's instinctive burst of fire. Eddy and Roman instantly raised their own machine guns, but they were too late. Joel had already punched Navarro in the face, and wrapped an arm around his neck, using him as a human shield.

"Let me go or I'll break his neck" growled Joel.

Roman simply stood there with an amused smile on his face, clearly believing he still had the upper hand.

He probably had before a dinosaur rounded the corner behind them.

Known as a terror bird, it was three metres tall, resembling a large bird due to its huge beak and its bird-like movement, which it demonstrated as it barrelled towards the group, clearly trying to catch them by surprise. When it realised it had been spotted, it sprinted even faster, reaching almost 30 miles an hour. It emitted a loud squawking sound which Joel recognised from earlier, and to his horror, just like before, a symphony of responding calls echoed from the surroundings. More would be on the way.

Joel dropped Navarro onto the ground and ran in the opposite direction, Roman and Eddy following suit. As they ran, several more of the creatures emerged from around them, making a beeline straight for the group. Roman and Eddy were heading out of the chateau but would soon be helpless as numerous dinosaurs caught up, and so, Joel pivoted and ran for the wall of the chateau.

Meanwhile, Navarro had scrambled to his feet and made it three steps before the first terror bird crashed into him. A large foot pinned him to the ground and the terror bird drew its head back before driving its beak forwards into Navarro, delivering an unbelievable amount of force that did not leave him intact.

Joel looked back over his shoulder at the sound of Navarro screaming. Though the sight of a terror bird methodically tearing a man's flesh off wasn't enough to faze him, he turned and saw that Roman and Eddy had followed his example and were now close behind him, a wave of creatures pursuing them.

Joel gritted his teeth and kept running. More screaming suddenly reached his ears and Joel turned to see Eddy Raja flying through the air towards him, thanks to an over-enthusiastic assault from the nearest terror bird.

"Appreciate it" Joel called, leaping up and catching the loose grenade that had flown from Eddy's belt.

"Right, so how do you do this? Pull the pin, count to three, don't miss."

Joel's years of experience in hurling molotov cocktails and nail bombs did not let him down, and the grenade flew high, arcing down to blow a gaping hole three metres up the chateau wall. The resultant fortunately-formed pile of debris allowed Joel to reach the hole and after a tense struggle, he managed to haul himself inside, where he promptly collapsed onto the floor, panting heavily.

However, a sudden scrabbling sound instantly triggered his instincts, and he jumped to his feet to see Roman attempting to climb up through the hole after him.

"Oh no, that ain't happening" growled Joel, marching over to the edge and bringing his foot down heavily on Roman's face.

Joel looked up to see the flock of dinosaurs approaching Roman, who was sprawled on the ground. Uncharacteristically, Eddy was nowhere to be seen or heard, and had presumably been killed.

"Help me!" cried Roman, his usually confident, controlling manner replaced with one of desperation and sheer terror. For once, he'd been unable to delegate the dangerous tasks to his subordinates, and his true weakness was now clear to see.

Joel opened his mouth to spout a brutal denial.

But before he could, a velociraptor sprung from the depths of the chateau, sinking its razor-sharp talons deep into him. Joel fell to the ground, screaming in agony as blood sprayed from his wounds. The raptor perched on top of him, ready to start eating him while he was still alive.

With a roar of defiance, Joel swung a fist round and knocked the raptor off his back. By the time he had rolled onto his side the raptor was back, deciding to deliver a more immobilising critical injury by piercing him again. Joel miraculously managed to avoid the next talon strike, and as the raptor landed heavily on top of him, he thrust his arms outwards, propelling the raptor off of him a second time.

It was straight back up in a second, snarling and charging at him relentlessly. Joel prepared for a last-ditch attempt to dodge, but before the raptor reached him it exploded away as a hail of bullets tore mercilessly into it.

Joel turned to see Gabriel Roman standing at the edge of the hole, shakily holding a smoking machine gun.

Joel wasted no time in clambering to his feet, ignoring the two oozing wounds he now carried that matched his injured arm.

"Quickly now, I can hear another one coming! Toss me the gun!" he yelled.

Roman looked uncertain but the urgent shouting had struck terror into him again, and he relinquished his weapon to the man clearly more capable of defending them than he was.

"Thank you" said Joel.

He lashed out with the gun barrel, striking Roman in the face and knocking him to the ground. Joel rested briefly, using the gun as a makeshift cane as his injuries filled his body with agonising pain. He desperately needed the medical supplies in his backpack. Gritting his teeth, he eased off the gun and aimed at Roman, who was lying on the floor, barely conscious.

But before he could shoot, Eddy dropped from the rafters, knocking Joel to the ground.

"Don't mess with Eddy Raja!" he crowed proudly.

"Eddy?" mumbled Roman. "I thought I saw you die..."

"Only a flesh wound, boss" replied Eddy, wiping a trickle of blood from his face.

Roman closed his eyes to let himself slip into unconsciousness.

"Do you know, Eddy? I rather think that was the first and only time I'll ever be glad to hear that ridiculous catchphrase."

"Shit!" said Chloe Frazer loudly.

"What is it?" asked Cutter.

"Come see for yourself" she replied.

Charlie joined her at the window. At first he was relieved to see that they had, at long last, located a viable chateau exit and that they would be able to fetch the others and inform them that the splitting-up technique had actually worked.

But then he saw the enormous group of trucks sitting outside; the colossal squad of heavily-armed mercenaries; the unmistakable bulk of numerous machine gun turrets.

The grinning Indonesian man loading an unconscious Joel into the lead truck.

"Shit" he agreed.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8.

Ellie meandered down the chateau hallway, looking down at her feet and blocking out the outside world.

Nathan Drake and Victor Sullivan were walking ahead, leaving her to follow them silently. She didn't cry, but there was nothing for her to do or say. The others told her they were trying to find Joel, but it was clear that they were actually trying to locate an exit.

They thought he was dead.

She thought he was dead.

As she wandered down the passageway, her mind was elsewhere.

 _BANG!_

 _Joel panted heavily as his attacker fell to the ground with a bullet hole in his head. Ellie held a smoking pistol shakily, staring down at the man she'd just killed._

 _"I really shot the hell out of that guy, huh?" she said in shock._

 _Joel glared at her._

 _"Why didn't you just hang back like I told you to?"_

 _Ellie lowered the gun._

 _"Well you're glad I didn't, right?"_

 _"I'm glad I didn't get my head blown off by a goddamn kid!" said Joel angrily._

 _Ellie shook her head._

 _"You know what? No. How about "Hey, Ellie. I know it wasn't easy, but it was either him or me, thanks for saving my ass." You got anything like that for me, Joel?"_

 _He didn't._

 _The argument taking place in the ranch house bedroom reached a peak. Ellie was shouting now, close to tears._

 _"_ Everyone _I have cared for has either_ died _, or_ left me _. Everyone- fucking except for you! So don't tell me I would be safer with somebody else because the truth is I would just be more scared."_

 _Joel's face was blank._

 _"You're right... you're not my daughter, and I sure as hell ain't your dad. And we are going our separate ways."_

 _Joel staggered though the university's entrance hall, his gaping chest wound oozing blood. He leaned heavily on Ellie, who was panting heavily after defending Joel from several attackers._

 _"I'm fine" mumbled Joel._

 _"Can you walk?"_

 _"Yes..." he grunted._

 _"Then fucking walk!"_

 _Joel rested against a counter as Ellie opened the next door. She held it open as Joel soldiered through it, crossing the foyer and crashing into the main double doors. A scavenger was outside in the process of stealing their horse Callus. He looked up in surprise as Joel stumbled and fell, rolling down the university steps to land on the ground at his feet. The scavenger aimed his gun, but Ellie shot him before he could kill Joel._

 _Ellie got the two of them secured on Callus' back, before spurring the horse into a trot down the road._

 _Before long, Joel suddenly slid sideways and fell, dropping from Callus' back and slamming into the ground. Ellie jumped off of the horse, to find Joel barely conscious, blood pouring from his wound._

 _"Joel!"_

 _She tried desperately to lift him up, but he didn't move._

 _"Get up, get up, get up" she pleaded. "You have to tell me what to do!"_

 _Nothing._

 _"Come on! You gotta get up!"_

 _A light snow fell around them as Joel lay unmoving._

 _"Joel!"_

 _Ellie's eyes flickered open._

 _Her body was filled with pain. She was lying in the restaurant, an unconscious David next to her. She could see her knife had slid under a seat nearby. She pulled herself up and crawled on hands and knees towards it, every movement causing her agony. She had to end this cannibalistic psychopath once and for all._

 _Two metres away from the knife, David's foot suddenly slammed into her chest. Her body folded and she slumped to the ground._

 _"I knew you had heart" said David, his cruel voice feeling like the harbinger of her death. "You know, it's okay to give up. Ain't no shame in it."_

 _Ellie got back up, crawling closer towards the hidden knife._

 _David chuckled._

 _"I guess not. Just not your style, is it?"_

 _He viciously kicked her again, causing her to cry out in pain as she dropped to the ground a second time._

 _David knelt down with a leg on either side of Ellie, levering himself down until he was pinning her to the floor._

 _"You can try begging" he said maliciously._

 _"Fuck you" groaned Ellie._

 _David turned Ellie over onto her back._

 _"You think you know me?" he growled. "Huh? Well, let me tell you something. You have no idea what I'm capable of."_

 _Ellie reached out, grabbing hold of the knife handle. She swung it sideways, cutting into David's shoulder and knocking him to the side with a cry of pain. In a flash, she was on top of him. Ellie raised the knife and David let loose a horrific scream as she brought the blade down on his face._

 _She cried out with every swipe, striking David in the face a second time._

 _And again._

 _And again._

 _And again._

 _And again._

 _"Ellie!" cried a voice nearby._

 _Joel grabbed her from behind._

 _"No!" she screamed._

 _"Stop. Stop." he said._

 _"Don't fucking touch me!" she yelled._

 _"Ssh. Ssh."_

 _"No!"_

 _"It's okay" Joel said. "It's me. It's me."_

 _Ellie was hyperventilating. Joel held her still._

 _"Look. Look" he said. "It's me."_

 _Ellie sobbed. "He tried to-"_

 _"Oh baby girl" whispered Joel, pulling her towards him and cradling her to his chest. "It's okay. It's okay."_

 _"Joel..."_

 _"It's okay now."_

"Guys!"

"That was Chloe" said Nate. "Come on" he called over his shoulder as he broke into a run, gesturing for Sully and Ellie to follow him.

The two men raced off down the corridor as Ellie trailed behind, fresh tears pouring down her face.

Chloe and Cutter were looking grimly out of the window as Nate arrived, Sully puffing behind him.

"What's wro- oh shit!" exclaimed Drake, catching sight of the vast army outside.

"They've been preparing to leave" Chloe informed them. "Once we're out of the chateau, a vehicle would be enormously useful. Miles quicker and safer than being on foot. But Nate: we can't go up against that. Not even you."

Drake took a moment to survey the firepower down below: over two dozen armoured trucks as well as assorted motorcycles and quad bikes; RPGs, grenade launchers and machine gun turrets; and an uncountable force of brutes toting all manner of lethal weaponry.

"I've handled convoys before" Nathan shrugged casually. "It's about time I had a bit of a challenge."

"What?!" cried Chloe, Cutter and Sully.

"Relax, it was a joke. Remember those? Ha ha?"

"Yeah, kid, as usual you're wasted away from the world of stand-up" noted Sully drily.

"Yeah, at least I can handle the standing-up part, huh?"

"Goddamn, Nate, any wit sharper than that and you could cut through cotton wool."

Nate frowned and swallowed.

"Anyway! All we have to do is sneak out there and get right up close to the convoy as they're leaving, then take over the truck at the back of the group, and voila: ticket out of here."

"Just one problem with that" said Cutter as Ellie finally caught up to the group, staring down at the floor. "They've got Joel in the lead car."

Ellie looked up sharply.

"Joel's alive?"

Cutter shared a brief glance with Chloe before deciding to omit any details about Joel's significant injuries.

"Yeah. But there's no chance whatsoever we'd be able to rescue him. We'd be torn apart in seconds."

"What?!" cried Ellie. "We have to try!"

The adults exchanged glances.

"We could secure a vehicle and then track them for a while, wait for a better opportunity" suggested Drake.

"Fuck no!"yelled Ellie.

After a long silence, she regained her composure and sighed.

"Joel is all I have. Please."

Joel woke up in the back of a truck.

In front of him, Eddy Raja was standing with the rear doors flung wide open, gazing out at the sprawling collection of vehicles roaring in their trail. Joel stared in shock. Clickers and Bloaters were one thing, but this? This inspired a whole new kind of fear.

Eddy turned and caught sight of his expression.

"Scared? You better be" he grinned, breaking into a characteristic bout of laughter.

"Of you? Nah. I killed men five times worse than you. You ain't shit" Joel spat.

Eddy was silent for a moment, before the trademark grin returned.

"You're a tough son of a bitch! I'll enjoy breaking you" he said ominously, before descending into another spate of mirth. "But seriously. There's no hope for you. We're miles away from your friends now and there's nothing any of you can do to stop us."

Then there was a loud revving sound behind them. Eddy whirled around.

"What the-!"

A truck had suddenly pulled up right behind them, close enough to see Chloe, Cutter and Nate sitting perched in the open-air storage area at the back of the vehicle, and Nate at the wheel.

Joel's face was a rare look of pure happiness.

Ellie was sitting in the passenger seat, staring right back at him.

Joel usually kept his emotions firmly inside him, but there was nothing to hide the sheer joy he felt at seeing her again.

But there was no time to celebrate, because now the entire convoy was preparing to attack.

"Step 1: Rescue Joel" muttered Drake. "Step 2: Get the hell out of here alive. Somehow. Good plan, Nate. Hope you're holding on back there! This is gonna be interesting!"


	9. Chapter 9

Numerous high-powered guns fired at the group, coating the truck's body with bullet marks and sending Cutter, Chloe and Sully diving for cover behind the rim of the truck's rear storage area. Nathan Drake shoved Ellie down off of her seat and under the dashboard, himself ducking down as far as possible while still driving.

"Somebody get in here and take the wheel!" yelled Drake over the tumultuous racket. "I'm gonna go get Joel!"

"You got it, kid!" called Sullivan. "Cover me!" he shouted to Chloe and Cutter, who began firing at the nearest trucks that were by the driver's side of the vehicle. Most of the other vehicles also had open-topped storage areas, and the duo rained bullets down on the mercenaries that were perched in them.

Sully manouevred his way to the driver's side door, flinging it open and propelling himself inside.

"I got it covered," assured Sully, switching places with Nate.

"Here goes nothing," said Drake, taking a deep breath before swinging himself onto the front of the truck.

"Keep it steady!" he yelled, crouching precariously.

"You want steady, then quit blocking the windscreen and you drive instead!" replied Sullivan.

Then suddenly a string of bullets flew just over Nate's head, smashing the windscreen to pieces.

The owner of the gun, Eddy Raja, cackled wildly from his position at the rear doors of the lead car.

"Nowhere to run now, Drake!" he proclaimed delightedly. "Your luck has finally run-"

"Out," finished Joel, looming up behind Eddy and shoving him hard, sending him flying out of the vehicle and onto the ground, where he narrowly avoided being hit by a passing truck.

Nate turned to Sully.

"Can you see out of the windscreen now?"he grinned innocently.

Sully ignored the inappropriate quips, and stamped down on the accelerator, taking the truck right up towards the front car, and stopping just before a collision.

"Joel, come on!" called Drake, indicating for him to jump.

"Joel!" yelled Ellie from the front seat, shouting encouragement until Sullivan pushed her down again.

Joel took a few laboured steps back, wracked with pain from his extensive injuries, and ran forwards as fast as he could.

Meanwhile, Gabriel Roman, who was sitting three metres away in the passenger seat, yelled at his driver.

"They're right behind us! Get us out of here!"

The car pulled forwards as Joel reached the gap, which was suddenly expanding rapidly.

"Shit!"he exclaimed, throwing himself forwards and crashing onto the front of the truck. Nate extended his hand, but Joel slid away down the bonnet. Drake dived forwards, grasping hold of the other man's arm. Joel's feet dangled just above the blur of the forest floor below. They both cried out as Nate heaved Joel back up onto the front of the truck.

"Don't scare me like that!" said Sully.

"Well, hey, a heart attack could hardly make you drive any worse," retorted Nathan.

"I got a gun right here, Nate, and I need you out of the way so I can see where I'm going. So don't tempt me," he smirked.

Nate turned to Joel. "Just climb over the top of the truck and get in the back with the others. So long as you stay down, you should be fine."

"What're you doing?" inquired Joel.

"Uh..." Nate paused, as streams of gunfire flew all around.

"This!" he suggested, leaping onto an enemy truck that had just pulled alongside.

Joel stared in shock. "Get in the back, lie low. Sounds good to me."

Nate ripped the machine gun from a mercenary's hands, and knocked him to the ground with a powerful swing from the bulky weapon. Another man grabbed him from behind, and Drake headbutted him, before tossing the assailant over the edge of the truck.

"That all you got? Who's next?" he said.

"I could keep going all- oh crap!" he yelled as two muscle-bound men jumped across from another truck to join him.

"Hi fellas," greeted Nate, leaping forwards and punching the nearest brute in the face. "Aghhhhhhh, that hurt, that hurt, that hurt," Drake moaned as the soldier remained unaffected.

"Come on guys, two on one?" he questioned. "Pretty cowardly way to fight."

The two men charged forwards, each delivering a huge punch that knocked Drake aside like a rag doll.

"I like your style," slurred Drake, staggering to his feet. "Sully! Little help here!"

"Goddamn it, kid! Can't I leave you alone for two minutes?" cried Sullivan.

Looking into the side mirror, he could see that a truck on the opposite side of Drake was engaged in a firefight with Chloe and Cutter, meaning it was down to him.

"I know how to drive," offered Ellie.

"You know how to drive?"

"Well..."

"Screw it. Take the wheel," relented Sully, flinging the door open and readying himself for the jump.

"You know, I always say I'm getting too old for all this. But I guess there's no age I could get to where I'm not still always saving his ass," he said. "Yippee goddamn ki yay!"

Ellie closed the door behind him after he had jumped.

"Okay... concentrate, Ellie. Don't get us all killed."

Meanwhile, Victor Sullivan hung one-handed from a speeding truck.

"Maybe I am getting too old for this!"

An enormous shadow covered his face as one of the brutes came over to the side and loomed over him.

"Hi there," he said. "Why don't you pull me up and we can just, uh... amicably go our separate ways?"

The mercenary drew back a fist.

"Ah. I guess not."

BANG!

The bruiser slumped backwards. "Go help Nate!" yelled Chloe, lowering her gun.

"Can do," called back Sully, almost jovial from relief as he pulled himself up and charged into the skirmish.

Chloe turned to Cutter.

"You still in one piece?"

"Just about. You weren't worried, were you?"

"I was worried I'd lose my meat shield," scoffed Chloe.

"Well, that's jus-"

BOOM!

A colossal fiery explosion blew a huge crater into the ground right next to the truck.

A hulking vehicle equipped with a grenade launcher was manoeuvring through the convoy towards them, a sizable squad of heavily-armed men occupying it and itching for a fight.

"They're just teleporting in now, surely!" complained Chloe. "What do we do?"

"Stay here!" cried Cutter. "We'll be dead in seconds if it's not stopped quickly!"

Without pausing for a reply, he launched himself out of the truck, leaving an anxious Chloe.

Meanwhile, Nate and Sully had just sent the second brute down to the floor purely by force of numbers.

"Guess you had the right idea with two against one earlier, pal," panted Drake. "But it looks like things are finally looking-"

"Down!" yelled Sully, diving forwards and knocking Nate to the floor with him, causing errant bullets to fly above them in their hundreds as a machine gun turret unloaded on them.

A few moments later, the rapid gunfire ceased, and Drake popped his head up to see that the bulk of the convoy was separating them from the turret.

"Aw, how am I supposed to get over to- well, hello!"

Sully watched, perplexed, as Drake disappeared over the side of the vehicle. There was a scream and suddenly a loud revving sound, and Sullivan peered over the edge to discover that Nate had managed to commandeer himself a motorcycle, and he was now driving alongside him.

"Get back to the others, Sully," he said. "I've got this."

As the machine gun turret resumed firing, Drake accelerated towards it, weaving in and out of various obstacles in his path. Bullet holes peppered the ground around him as he drove unsteadily forwards.

"I really don't got this!"

While he was driving, a loud explosion sounded behind him as Charlie Cutter leaped from an enemy vehicle, causing the grenade launcher to blow it up instead and wipe out a portion of their own men.

Cutter landed on the truck that housed the grenade launcher, pulling out a pistol and firing at the men, managing to kill all but one of them before his gun clicked empty.

"Oh, shit," he muttered as the mercenary raised his shotgun.

Chloe flew out of nowhere, slamming into the soldier and knocking him to the floor.

"Need some help, meat shield?" she asked, with a wink.

"No, no, I had it covered."

"Are you sur- Shit, look out!"

During the fray, a grenade had been ripped loose from a mercenary's belt, and had ended up resting on the floor of the truck.

BOOM!

Chloe, who was already airborne when the grenade blew up, felt the subsequent explosion of the truck propel her body upwards, and forwards, throwing her into a high arc that sent her catapulting into the back of a passing truck. Despite the agonising landing, she shot to her feet, eyes scanning the rubble and the surroundings for any sign of Charlie.

"Cutter? Cutter!"

There was no sign of him.

She looked around desperately. And then she, along with everybody else, was thoroughly stunned as the convoy passed out of the French jungle and into a vast desert. Trees were replaced with sand dunes and the jungle floor was swept away by a thick, strong, yet soft blanket of white sand, streaked orange by the sun overhead.

And as if this wasn't enough, Drake was caught off guard when a fleet of sleek helicopters materialised above them in sync with the geographical shift. They were confirmed as enemy helicopters when they began to target Nate, who was so distracted that he rocketed straight up a dune, sending him soaring straight into the midst of the low-hovering helicopters.

Gabriel Roman watched from the lead car.

"We have them now," he surmised.

Joel was lying half conscious from potentially fatal injuries; Sully and Ellie were under heavy attack in the truck; Chloe was stranded on her own, surrounded by enemies, and Cutter was missing in action.

And Nathan Drake was hanging from the bottom of a helicopter.

"Ohhhhhhhh craaaaaaaaaap!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Author note: So it's been a while. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and actually I have a lot of fun reading it too. Probably one of the best so far, in my opinion. Anyway, to anyone who might be still following this somehow, or any new readers, I'm still not able to update anywhere near as frequently as I would like... but probably I'll manage a new chapter every... two months or so? If I'm lucky. It's pretty time-consuming because I like to really work on making it a good-quality chapter and not just a half-hearted update, plus I have a bunch of other projects that all call for attention. There's a 100% guarantee though that this story is still going (unless I die). I just can't guarantee updates will be too often. Chapter 11 will be sometime this year, hopefully! Whether you love it or hate it, please leave a review and let me know why so I can make sure I keep making this story better.**

...

Nathan Drake looked like a peculiarly large and well-armed wallaby, hanging precariously from the underside of a sleek attack helicopter. The desert floor swept by below, dotted with military trucks streaming across it.

In the lead car of the convoy, Gabriel Roman's hired driver was listening to his boss ramble about his imminent victory.

"Er... Roman?" the driver began. "Are we worrying about how we're now in a- a desert? When we were in- you know- a jungle a second ago?"

Roman looked bewildered for a second. "Ah... yes," he responded in his silky British accent, reclaiming an air of superiority. "Well, naturally... we have of course, been experiencing changes of time zone recently: dinosaurs in modern France specifically... so clearly whatever phenomena is taking place is affecting both time and location, um, causing both geography and history to... mix together."

"...So you don't know."

Roman glared at his henchman. "I know how to drive, you know... So be quiet or you'll soon be ruining the scenery with a hideous red smear across the ground."

The driver thought he'd heard more eloquent threats from his friend after a heavy night's drinking, but since that friend had most likely perished by now in an explosion or hail of gunfire behind him, he wisely closed his mouth and continued driving.

...

Meanwhile, thirty metres behind, Victor Sullivan was having a far less enjoyable time driving. His truck was hemmed in by enemy vehicles on all sides, and judging by how frequently people had been leaping around between trucks like it was nothing special, it was surely a matter of time before they were boarded. Ellie was beside him in the passenger seat, completely ignoring his advice by firing shots at the attacking trucks, though her pistol was almost useless against the abundance of high-powered machine guns that the mercenaries were toting. Regardless, Ellie fired on relentlessly, even as streams of bullets pounded into the truck so persistently that it was a miracle she and Sullivan were both unscathed. Unfortunately, the vehicle wouldn't last much longer.

Joel gritted his teeth as he lay in the back of the truck. Bullets whizzed by above his head and he wished he had found somewhere better to take cover. With his extensive injuries, he was barely capable of keeping himself out of the line of fire.

A mercenary from the next truck over landed in front of him, followed by another two from various directions. They were taken aback to see Joel there, and in their split second of hesitation, a thunderous roar sounded nearby, and a continuous burst of rapid fire obliterated them.

Chloe Frazer, who had commandeered a rapid-fire turret mounted on the most irritating of the nearby vehicles, turned her attention to the hostiles that were closing in on her group.

"That's for Charlie, you bastards!"

She threw a thumbs-up in Joel's direction as she swivelled around, unleashing a perpetual stream of destruction in her wake. Truck after truck exploded in what seemed to her like a beautiful symphony, mercenaries flying in various directions as the bullet-riddled husks of their vehicles ploughed into sand dunes. Before Chloe knew what had happened, she had reduced almost the entire convoy to smithereens. She turned her attention to the fleet of helicopters, tearing them apart with barrages of artillery fire. She stopped when she saw Nathan Drake.

"What the hell is he doing?" she wondered incredulously.

...

"What the hell am I doing?" cried Nate, clutching in his hand the makeshift grappling hook he'd crafted back at the chateau. He'd neglected to use one in his recent adventures, but teenage memories reminded him of how useful they could be. After a dozen attempts, he had seemingly succeeded in hooking the implement onto something inside the helicopter, albeit an object of dubious reliability. With all the limited reassurance of a few reasonably secure-seeming safety tugs on the rope, Nate let go of the helicopter.

The wind took him instantly, buffeting him around wildly. After a stomach-churning drop that became a controlled arc, he hung suspended from the rope, dangling beneath the low-flying helicopter. "This is a lot harder than I thought it'd be," Drake reflected.

As the gusts of wind threw him around, he noticed his proximity both to the desert floor sweeping below, and to Gabriel Roman's astonished and astonishingly hideous face behind a windscreen. It became an astonishingly hideous face with a glint of pleasure as he gestured to his driver, spouting words that the wind swept away from Nathan's ears.

"That doesn't look good," he muttered to nobody in particular, (a recurring habit of his) and he began to try and scale the rope. As he struggled to ascend even one foot up the grappling hook, he noticed with alarm that Gabriel's truck had somehow picked up even more speed, gradually closing the distance between them. The man himself was pointing a pistol out of the passenger-side door, firing ineptly.

"Why does this kind of shit always happen?!"

Nate began to swing as best he could from side to side, gradually building up momentum. As the truck reached him, he swung past the side of it, the vehicle now passing by beside him. "You lose again, pal," Drake called, kicking Roman's pistol from his hands. "For the second time in a row, you've been- no, no, no, no, no, not cool!"

Roman, reaching from the truck to try and catch hold of Drake, had himself been wrenched out of the window.

"Why? Why would you even do that?!" yelled Nate incredulously.

Roman responded with a series of shouts and groans as he hung from Nate's ankles, lifting his legs desperately as his own feet threatened to scrape across the floor below.

The driver shrugged. "My work here is done," he surmised, peeling the truck away and heading off in a different direction, deciding that probable death was not particularly appealing to him without a payment at the end of it. "No, where are you- come back!" cried Roman.

"First Navarro took El Dorado for himself, and now this," Nathan pointed out. "Seems to me like you're a terrible boss."

"We're about to die, you fool!"

"Looks like you'll die a good half-second before me though, right? Ha ha ha h- ugh, why am I even laughing?"

Roman ignored him, choosing instead to point behind them, yelling "Look!" Nate craned his head back to see another truck accelerating towards them. "Christ, are you kidding me?! When this is over, I don't ever even want to look at one more stupid, stupid truck- Oh hi, Sully."

Ellie and Victor waved from behind the shattered windshield.

...

Charlie Cutter's legs gave way and he collapsed onto the sand, aching and bloody.

After being thrown into a sand dune by the explosion, he had quickly discovered that his own feet were not capable of carrying him at speeds of sixty miles per hour. His bruises throbbed painfully as he lay there, weary and spent.

"First it's Jurassic Park... now it's Mad shitting Max," he complained. "Whatever's next... I hope it's bloody Toy Story at least."

He lay there for a while, lost in exhaustion-fuelled reflection. Mostly he wondered whether his friends (even Joel and Ellie, the latter of which he had come to like particularly well) were alive; though a healthy introspection on the nature and quality of movie sequels was a natural accompaniment.

"Of course," he mumbled, "Toy Story 3 is the unequivocal champion of the series: a shining beacon of innovation and heart in an industry of increasingly clinical, cash-motivated-"

Cutter frowned as his unbridled nugget of cultural and societal wisdom was interrupted by the faint roar of an engine. He clambered strenuously to his feet, turning around to spot the black dot on the horizon behind him. As it grew closer and larger in turn, he identified the shape of a motorcycle shooting towards him at a perilously high speed. When its rider identified Charlie, they let loose a wicked cackle.

"Didn't I say it? Don't mess with Eddy goddamn Raja!" he crowed, whooping raucously. He levelled a small shotgun at Cutter as he approached. "Eat my sand!"

He swerved wildly past Cutter, who rolled for dear life. Shotgun pellets peppered the earth around him. Eddy wheeled round in a circle and came roaring back. This time he was heading directly towards Cutter, who chose to stand his ground. Once again, Eddy brandished his shotgun, but didn't anticipate his foe rolling towards him instead. Charlie slid beneath the shotgun barrel, ears ringing with the discharge as he snatched the weapon. Eddy was forced to relinquish it to avoid being pulled from his bike, and Charlie claimed the firearm for his own.

"Thanks, mate," he called.

Eddy's eyes narrowed in fury, motorcycle swerving around for a third charge. "You'll pay for that one!"

"Taking the shotgun?" inquired Cutter. "Or the incredibly witty quip?"

Eddy revved the engine. "I'm sorry, did you say: 'incredibly shitty quip'?"

"Wow, that- that's really mature."

"Oh, please forgive me for my provoketion, dead man!" Eddy accelerated towards him.

"Are you kidding me right now? It's provocation, you illiterate-"

Cutter aimed the shotgun, prepared to dodge if need be, but determined to get a shot off. Eddy roared towards him on a direct collision course, grinning wickedly. Cutter had chalked the constant semi-suicidal behaviour down to a reckless disposition, but even Eddy knew that he had no chance of surviving a shotgun burst, and as soon as he had aligned the motorcycle, he leapt off, tumbling across the sand.

"Oh, bollocks," exclaimed Cutter, darting to the left. He avoided the tyres but the handlebar clipped his shoulder. As he lost his balance and staggered sideways, Eddy swooped in and snatched the shotgun. After reclaiming his weapon, he lashed out brutally, delivering a solid strike to Charlie's head that sent him crashing onto his back. He pointed the gun downwards.

"Bye-bye, p-"

Cutter swiped upwards, his foot connecting with the shotgun barrel and sweeping it higher. Sprays of sand burst up just above his head where the pellets impacted. Eddy cursed and recovered his grip, but when he pulled the trigger, his adversary had already rolled aside. Cutter sprang to his feet. Eddy brought the gun round to face him, finger tightening on the trigger. As he fired, the gun was propelled sideways. He was much skinnier and leaner than Cutter, whose broad, muscular build enabled him to wrench the weapon away in seconds.

Eddy raised his hands in mock surrender, Charlie holding him at gunpoint. "Go ahead," he sneered. "You won't- agh!"

Cutter's powerful right-hook struck him full in the face, sending him sprawling to the ground and entering a rare silence. Eddy spluttered in pain and indignation as Cutter walked away. He sauntered nonchalantly over to where the motorbike had come to rest (as if he wasn't dead on his feet), wasting no time propping it up and climbing on to sit astride it.

He wheeled away and halted beside the still-grounded Eddy. "By the way, just for posterity... which Toy Story's better?"

"Will you just go already!" exclaimed Eddy in exasperation.

"Roger that," Cutter responded, shooting a salute behind him as he sped away in pursuit of the convoy.

" "Eat my sand," " he chuckled as he drove. "What a tosser."


End file.
